When I grew up, poor people were thin. Books, films and news coverage of famines perpetuated the stereotype. But today, poor people are increasingly likely to be overweight. Now it’s often the rich who are the thin ones. It’s especially the case in cities, where most of humanity lives. There, wealthy folks might be packed into yoga hallsRead More …

New research shows just how much different regions of the world rely on each other for the foods they know and love – and why it’s time to share This world is really messed up. Especially when it comes to food – and specifically the plants we eat. Take for example, a hearty British roast dinner. With close competitionRead More …

Disappearing under a thick canopy of leaves, Tran Thi Ha is quick to point out five different types of the root crop cassava on her farm – and their somewhat unusual uses. “We use the stems of cassava stakes as a medium to grow mushrooms,” she says, pointing to a line of cut cassava stems. Nestling in the foothillsRead More …

On 28 August, Catholic Relief Services (CRS) and Haiti’s Ministry of Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Rural Development (MARDNR) convened a conference in Port au Prince, Haiti, to present and discuss the results of a recent CIAT study with key decision makers and donors in the country. Anton Eitzinger presented the main conclusions of the study, which was carried outRead More …

There are several ways to grow coffee, from the traditional shaded plantation, where a canopy of trees protects coffee plants from the sun, all the way to intensive, full-sun coffee production, where only coffee plants are grown to, theoretically, increase yields. Shaded coffee farms do notably better at conserving biodiversity and providing ecosystem services, including pollination, pest control, climateRead More …

When I heard that CIAT cassava breeder Hernan Ceballos had some “very strange” cassava to show us, I didn’t waste any time in calling to clarify what he meant. He gave little away: “you have to see it.” Very soon we were in one of CIAT’s vast fields of experimental cassava. I wondered what exactly we’d find: cassava rootsRead More …

Already one of the most densely populated countries in the world, the United Nations predicts that Rwanda’s population of around 11 million people is set to nearly quadruple by the turn of the century. An Upward Spiral – the story of climbing beans in Rwanda from CIAT Colombia on Vimeo. With a pressing need to sustainably boost food productionRead More …